Vernon Howard Quotes

Bitterness is the outcome of a wrong mental movement - the attempt to force external events to conform to internal fantasy. The cure is to see fantasy as fantasy, which will reveal it as neither necessary nor rewarding.

Truth does not really hurt, rather it is our resistance to its message that causes us pain.

Every day that you attempt to see things as they are in truth Is a supremely successful day.

It is utterly useless to try to change the outer world, for it is but a reflection of inner causes. The true seeker seeks to change himself.

A clear understanding of negative emotions dismisses them.

The need to impress others causes half the world's woes.

Do not mistake desire for love. Desire leaves home in a frantic search for one gratification after another. Love is at home with itself.

Cruelty practiced as a matter of social principle or public policy, and presented to the community as a means to a higher goal is the most obscene and decadent phenomenon of any civilization.

We are enslaved by anything we do not consciously see. We are freed by conscious perception.

You see everything depends upon the psychological headquarters from which we live. 'Where am I living from?' Ask yourself that question. If you don't like your headquarters, you can move any time you like. Break away. Don't tell anyone about it. Others will either smile tolerantly or mouth sanctimonious babble. Make your escape plans in secret. Never mind if you lose certain friends, you will find others who also have dared. They will be ten-thousand times more valuable to you.

We can accept God becoming Man to save Man, but not Man becoming God to save himself.

Procrastination is illogical from every viewpoint. It is like the man who wanted to cross the stream, so he sat on the bank to wait for all the water to run by.

When the mind is exhausted in trying to find the answer, the answer dawns.

You must never fear anything at all.

We never get upset over what happens. Never. We get upset because of preconceived ideas as to what we think should happen, what we want to happen. When our preference clashes with the reality, we get hurt. Rid yourself of all preconceived ideas as to what should happen. You are then at peace whatever happens.

The outer storm ceases the moment the inner storm ends, for they are the same storm.

To change what you get you must change who you are.

The world consists of imaginary people, claiming imaginary virtues and suffering from imaginary happiness.

The only reason you do not do great things is because you timidly cling to small things. Will you let loose of small things and bear the uncertainty of having nothing for a while? Do this and eventually you will do great things.

When one plan that you have, to get this or to get that, to advance in the world, or whatever it might be, when that seems in danger of veering off the path you have set for it, you have your emergency plan ready. And in simple language what that emergency plan is, what you put into operation, is called worry. If you can worry you are occupied, and what an incredible human situation it is!

Be teachable. That is the whole secret.

It is against the law to permit weak people to steal your strength. Never permit it.

You know what is right. Deep down, you know. The battle between your true wisdom and the counterfeit wisdom of society is what causes frustration. Refuse to compromise with what you know is right-with what is right for you.

Study carefully the law of cause and effect.

It is a true miracle when a man finally sees himself as his only opposition.

You have it made when you don't care whether you have it made or not.

Human sickness is so severe that few can bear to look at it...but those who do will become well.

Have the daring to stop doing the things you really don't want to do. Can you see them? Look closely. Can you observe the many things you do because you reluctantly feel you should or must? Watch closely. Examine every action and reaction. Do you act naturally or do you act because you feel compelled? If you feel compelled, stop. Compulsion is slavery. Example: Refuse to go along with the crowd.

We can no more enjoy life by hoping for a future result than we can enjoy music by waiting for the final note.

An obvious fact about negative feelings is often overlooked. They are caused by us, not by exterior happenings. An outside event presents the challenge, but we react to it. So we must attend to the way we take things, not to the things themselves.

There exists a special self which takes every event as if it were the very thing you wanted to happen. That self is the Supermind, which is never upset by anything. Your goal is to nourish it into greater strength. Then, every step is sunlit.

Many of us knock on the door but remain outside, because knocking and entering are entirely different actions. Knocking is necessary, consisting of reading books, attending meetings, asking questions. But entrance requires much bolder action. It requires one to enter into himself, to uncover hidden motives, to see contradictions, and to realize his actual power for self-change.

We must become acquainted with our emotional household: we must see our feelings as they actually are, not as we assume they are. This breaks their hypnotic and damaging hold on us.

Remember above all that mental stability comes by examining the contents of the mind, not by avoidence.

Genuine kindness is not what we do, it is what we are.